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GRIQUALAND EAST

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 607 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GRIQUALAND See also:

EAST and GRIQUALAND See also:WEST, territorial divisions of the Cape See also:Province of the See also:Union of See also:South See also:Africa. Griqualand East, which lies south of See also:Basutoland and west of See also:Natal, is so named from the See also:settlement there in 1862 of Griquas under See also:Adam Kok. It forms See also:part of the Transkeian Territories of the Cape, and is described under See also:KAFFRARIA. Griqualand West, formerly Griqualand simply, also named after its Griqua inhabitants, is part of the See also:great tableland of South Africa. It is bounded S. by the See also:Orange See also:river,W. and N. by See also:Bechuanaland, E. by the See also:Transvaal and Orange See also:Free See also:State Province, and has an See also:area of 15,197 sq. m. It has a See also:general See also:elevation of 3000 to 4000 ft. above the See also:sea, See also:low ranges of rocky hills, the Kaap, See also:Asbestos, See also:Vansittart and Langeberg mountains, traversing its western portion in a general N.E.-S.W. direction. The only perennial See also:rivers are in the eastern See also:district, through which the See also:Vaal flows" from a point a little above Fourteen Streams to its junction with the Orange (16o m.). In this part of its course the Vaal receives the Harts river from the See also:north and the Riet from the east. The Riet, 4 M. within the Griqualand frontier, is joined by the Modder. The See also:banks of the rivers are shaded by willows; elsewhere the only See also:tree is the See also:mimosa. The greater part of the See also:country is barren, merging N.W. into See also:absolute See also:desert. The See also:soil is, however, wherever irrigated, extremely fertile.

The See also:

day See also:climate is hot and dry, but the nights are frequently See also:cold. See also:Rain rarely falls, though thunderstorms of great severity occasionally sweep over the See also:land, and sandstorms are prevalent in the, summer. A portion of the country is adapted for See also:sheep-farming and the growing of crops, See also:horse-breeding is carried on at See also:Kimberley, and asbestos is worked in the south-western districts, but the See also:wealth of Griqualand West lies in its diamonds, which are found along the banks of the Vaal and in the district between that river and the Riet. From the first See also:discovery of diamonds in 1867 up to the end of 1905 the See also:total yield of diamonds was estimated at 13z tons, See also:worth 95,000,000. The See also:chief See also:town is Kimberley (q.v.), the centre of the See also:diamond See also:mining See also:industry. It is situated on the railway from Cape Town to the See also:Zambezi, which crosses the country near its eastern border. Three See also:miles south of Kimberley is See also:Beaconsfield (q.v.). On the banks of the Vaal are Barkly West (q.v.), Windsorton (pop. Boo) and Warrenton (pop. 1500); at all these places are river diggings, diamonds being found along the river from Fourteen Streams to the Harts confluence. Warrenton is 44 M. N. by See also:rail from Kimberley.

See also:

Douglas (pop. 300), on the south See also:bank of the Vaal, 12 M. above its confluence with the Orange, is the centre of an agricultural district, a See also:canal 91 M. See also:long serving to irrigate a considerable area. See also:Thirty-five miles N.W. of Douglas is Griquatown (pop. 401), the headquarters of the first Griqua settlers. See also:Campbell (pop. 250) is 30 M. E. of Griqua-town, and Postmasburg 42 M. N. by W. A See also:census taken in 1877 showed the See also:population of Griqualand West to be 45,277, of whom 12,347 were whites. At the census of 1891 the population was 83,215, of whom 29,602 were whites, and in 1904 the population was 108,498, of whom 32,570 were whites. See also:History.—Before the settlement in it of Griqua clans the district was thinly inhabited by See also:Bushmen and See also:Hottentots. At the end of the 18th See also:century a See also:horde known as Bastaards, descendants of Dutch farmers and Hottentot See also:women, led a nomadic See also:life on the plains south of the Orange river.

In 1803 a missionary named See also:

Anderson induced a number of the Bastaards with their chief Barend Barends to See also:settle north of the river, and a See also:mission station was formed at a See also:place where there was a strong flowing See also:fountain, which has now disappeared, which gave the name of Klaarwater to what is now known as Griquatown or Griquastad. Klaarwater became a See also:retreat for other Bastaards, Hottentot refugees, See also:Kaffirs and Bechuanas. From Little See also:Namaqualand came a few See also:half-breeds and others under the leadership of Adam Kok, son of See also:Cornelius Kok and See also:grandson of Adam Kok (c. 1710-1795), a See also:man of mixed See also:white and Hottentot See also:blood who is regarded as the founder of the See also:modern Griquas. The settlement prospered, and in 1813, at the instance of the Rev. See also:Jahn Campbell, who had been sent by the See also:London Missionary Society to inspect the country, the tribesmen abandoned the name of Bastaards in favour of that of Griquas,' some of them professing descent from a Hottentot tribe, originally settled near Saldanha See also:Bay, called by the See also:early Dutch settlers at the Cape Chariguriqua or Grigriqua. Under the guidance of missionaries the Griquas made some progress in See also:civilization, and many professed See also:Christianity. Adam Kok and Barends having moved eastward in 182o, those who remained behind elected as their See also:head man a teacher in the mission school named Andries Waterboer, who successfully administered the settlement, and by defeating the Makololo raiders greatly increased the See also:prestige of the tribe. Meanwhile Adam Kok and his companions had occupied part of the country between the Modder and Orange rivers. In 1825 Kok settled at the.mission station of Philippolis (founded two years previously), and in a See also:short See also:time had exterminated the Bushmen inhabiting that region. He died about 1835, and after a See also:period of See also:civil strife was succeeded by his younger son, Adam Kok III. This chief in See also:November 1843 signed a treaty placing himself under See also:British See also:protection.

Many Dutch farmers were settled on the land he claimed. In 1845 he received British military aid in a contest with the white settlers, and in 1848 helped the British under See also:

Sir Harry See also:Smith against the Boers (see ORANGE FREE STATE: History). Eventually finding himself straitened by the Boers of the newly established Orange Free State, he removed in 1861-1863 with his See also:people, some' 3000 in number, to the region (then depopulated by Kaffir See also:wars) now known as Griqualand East. His See also:sovereign rights to all territory no:.th of the Orange he sold to the Free State for £4000. He founded See also:Kokstad (q. v.) and died in 1876. Waterboer, the See also:principal Griqua chief, had entered into treaty relations with the British See also:government as early as 1834, and he received a See also:subsidy of £150 a See also:year. He proved a stanch ally of the British, and kept the See also:peace on the Cape frontier to the day of his See also:death in 1852. He was succeeded by his son See also:Nicholas Waterboer, under whom the See also:condition of the Griquas declined—a decline induced by the indolence of the people and intensified by the drying up of the See also:water supplies, See also:cattle See also:plague and See also:brandy drinking. During this period white settlers acquired farms in the country, and the loss of their See also:independence by the Griquas became inevitable. The discovery of diamonds along the banks of the Vaal in 1867 entirely altered the fortunes of the country, and by the end of 1869 the See also:rush to the alluvial diggings had begun. At the diggers' camps the Griquas exercised no authority, but over part of the district the South See also:African See also:Republic and the Orange Free State claimed See also:sovereignty. At Klip See also:Drift (now Barkly West) the diggers formed a See also:regular government and elected See also:Theodore See also:Parker as their See also:president.

Most of the diggers being British subjects, the high See also:

commissioner of South Africa interfered, and a Cape See also:official was appointed See also:magistrate at Klip Drift, President Parker resigning See also:office in See also:February 1871. At this time the " dry diggings," of which Kimberley is the centre, had been discovered,' and over the miners there the Orange Free State asserted See also:jurisdiction. The land was, however, claimed by Nicholas Waterboer, who, on the See also:advice of his See also:agent, See also:David Arnot, petitioned the British to take over his country.' This Great See also:Britain consented to do, and on the 27th of See also:October 1871 proclamations were issued by the high commissioner ' The Griquas, as a distinct tribe, numbered at the Cape census of 1904 but 6289. They have largely intermarried with Kaffir and See also:Bechuana tribes. 2 The See also:order of discovery of the chief mines was:—Dutoitspan, See also:Sept. 187o; Bultfontein, Nov. 187o; De Beers, May 1871; Coles-See also:berg Kop (Kimberley), See also:July 1871.receiving Waterboer and his Griquas as British subjects and defining the limits of his territory. In addition to the Kimberley district this territory included that part of the diamondiferous area which had been claimed by the Transvaal, but which had been declared, as the result of the See also:arbitration of R. W. See also:Keate, See also:lieutenant-See also:governor of Natal, part of Waterboer's land. On the 4th of November a small party of Cape Mounted See also:Police took See also:possession of the dry diggings and hoisted the British See also:flag. Shortly afterwards the representative of the Orange Free State withdrew.

The Free State was greatly incensed by the See also:

action of the British government, but the dispute as to the sovereignty was settled in 1876 by the See also:payment of £9o,000 by the British to the Free State as See also:compensation for any injury inflicted on the state. The diggers, who under the nominal See also:rule of the Transvaal and Free State had enjoyed See also:practical independence, found the new government did little for their benefit, and a period of disorder ensued, which was not put an end to by the See also:appointment in See also:January 1873 of Mr (afterwards Sir) See also:Richard Southey3 as See also:sole See also:administrator, in place of the three commissioners who had previously exercised authority. In the July following the territory was made a See also:crown See also:colony and See also:Southey's See also:title changed to that of lieutenant-governor. The government remained unpopular, the diggers complaining of its unrepresentative See also:character, the heavy See also:taxation exacted, and the inadequate protection of See also:property. They formed a society for mutual protection, and the discontent was so great that an armed force was sent (early in 1875) from the Cape to overawe the See also:agitators. At the same time See also:measures were taken to render the government more popular. The settlement of the dispute with the Free State paved the way for the See also:annexation of Griqualand to the Cape Colony on the 15th of October 1880.

End of Article: GRIQUALAND EAST

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